Tag: Valerie Parente poem

Little Nightling That Dwells

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Little Nightling That Dwells
by Valerie Parente

I know you
like the back of my hand
dwelling in the dark
like roots under land.

Creature of the night
you are so in love
because the darkness was with you
when no one else was.

I know you
little nightling that dwells
on the pain and trauma
you know oh so well.

You love the dark
but does the dark love you?
When branches grow from roots
you become living proof.

Pain without art
is like a seed in the dark
but pain with a purpose
grows above the earth’s surface
reaching for the sun
when it’s all said and done.
You are more than your roots
you are what thrives above too.

– Valerie Parente (7-9-2025)

Sunrise (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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Sunrise (A Fantasy Chronicle) by Valerie Parente

Elissa grew up to be an enchantress
understanding the dark art of semantics
“Would you do it again?” her peers asked.
She declared, “I wouldn’t change the past
but I will tell you this of darkness
preach not what you practice.
It would be a grave mistake
to go out of your way
to create pain out of nothing
in an attempt to feel something.
Thou shall respond to darkness
while the sun sets
knowing the sun will rise again
along the horizon.”

– Valerie Parente (12-6-2022)

Not So Sweet

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Not So Sweet by Valerie Parente

Everybody has a bit of a sweet tooth
looking for that candy-coated praise
you wanna call me your honey
but baby I’m an acquired taste.

Maybe I’m not so prone
to that “sweetie pie” catch phrase
I swear I care, I really do
but I’ll be damned if I’m cliche.

Love is hard but loving me is harder
past the honeymoon phase
I’m trying my damn best
but boy oh boy am I to blame.

– Valerie Parente (11-29-2022)

WITCH

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WITCH by Valerie Parente

If I was held accountable
for all my INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS
they’d burn me at the stake
then call it an ACT of GOD.

– Valerie Parente (11-1-2022)

Haunted, Not Want It

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Haunted, Not Want It by Valerie Parente

It’s not that I’m not over it,
it’s that I never got closure from it.
It’s not that I want what I almost had,
it’s that I’m haunted by the way it passed.
It’s never my intention to turn around,
I just wanna make the old me proud…

When it’s hard to tell the difference
between what you want
and what continues to haunt
I ask myself, am I the host or the witness
of a truth in my heart
or an obsessive thought?

The answer is always the same:
when I was half this age
I wanted exactly what I have in this day,
this longing is an addiction so dishonest
a state of mind of the haunted
and it can be debunked in this way:
having gratitude for today.

– Valerie Parente (8-19-2022)


What Am I To You?

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What Am I To You? by Valerie Parente

What am I to you
but a means to breed?

What is my anatomy to you
but a sacrifice so sweet?

What is my pain to you
but a moral victory?

What is my pleasure to you
but a sin to preach?

What is my desperation to you
but a punishment for being free?

What is my free will to you
but a political chess piece?

What is my free will to you
but something to mistreat?

What is my hope to you
but a mere dream?

What am I to you
but a lesser being?

– Valerie Parente (6-28-2022)

A Harpy’s Observation (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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A Harpy’s Observation by Valerie Parente

The harpy fought her darkness
but vowed in her core
she would never haunt another.

Quite often she noticed
from her bird’s eye view
something ever so cruel.

All throughout the village
so many so called lovers
continuously hurt each other.

So she asked the lunar druid,
“Why are there so many toxic pairs?”
and to that he declared.

“Damaged people damage people
when mental health defects
remain unchecked.

Yes we all have a dark side
and I shall not fault one for their darkness
unless it goes unaddressed.

So many become a pair
and they foster displacement
from their own self-hatred.

You must at least try
to find healing in yourself
before you find love in someone else.”

– Valerie Parente (6-10-2022)

The Carrier

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The Carrier by Valerie Parente

You have been given the greatest honor
when your loved one is visible no longer
and now you get to carry them with you
in everything that you do.
It will be challenging some days
but you will always find the strength
because wherever there is hurt
there was love there first.
There will be confusion but it always comes back
to this everlasting fact:
that loved ones remain forever within
so you never have to be alone again.

– Valerie Parente (5-16-2022)

Poetic Justice

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Poetic Justice by Valerie Parente

Is it sick to say
the pain enriches my life
or am I fooling myself
with another literary device
the irony of my disorder
the alliteration of my confines
the tendency to poetic justice
for the fear of all randomized.
Pain must have meaning
it must have meaning, otherwise
all love does not extend
past the time of my demise.
Yes it must be full of meaning
at the other end there is a light
and if it weren’t for the darkness
love could not be recognized.

– Valerie Parente (4-29-2022)